Seafood and steak at Belthazar and Tabasco’s 12th birthday

Last weekend we lunched at Belthazar at the V&A Waterfront. We also celebrated little Bassie’s 12th birthday on Monday, as you’ll see from the pics below…

Saturday, 30 March 2019: Succulent steak lunch at Belthazar

Mmm. It was a Pulp Kitchen breakfast kind of morning on Saturday as we were in Willowbridge Centre. See our flat whites as well as my coffee-dipped French toast and Husband’s ‘Mexican standoff’ mince on toast, with a poached egg rather than the scrambled standard.

Next stop, Belthazar at the V&A Waterfront for lunch. See Husband’s wine with a handy tag explaining exactly what he was imbibing, as this is the largest ‘by-the-glass’ wine bar in the world, offering 250 options. Also see the lovely view across to a cloud-covered Table Mountain.

Husband opted for the Belthazar-style avocado Ritz starter. See the bright pops of colour. He said it tasted just as good as it looked.

Husband starting on that starter. Also see the lovely ‘bread board’ complete with sausage in Napoletana sauce, Husband’s Madagascan green peppercorn-topped saucy flambeed steak, his side of baked potato and creamed spinach, and my steak roll with hand-cut chips. All lip-smackingly good!

See Husband’s glass of red book-ended by my delicious Kahlua dom pedro. Highly recommended as a drink or dessert!

A Waterfront view not often seen: Eye-catching staircase up to the castle-like Somerset Hospital.

Cupcakes galore! We popped in at my Uncle Al’s house that evening, just up the road in West Beach, to celebrate his retirement. There were yummy cupcakes everywhere we looked!

The full family contingent, celebrating Uncle Al’s retirement.

Pretty skies when we left Uncle Al’s for our own home that evening.

We celebrated little Bassie’s birthday with the cupcakes we took home from uncle Al’s, as well as a new box of baked goods from our local Spar during the week. Also see our pretty ‘housewarming sunflowers’.

Sunday, 31 March 2019: Cup & Cake breakfast and sunny skies

We started our Sunday with breakfast at Cup & Cake in Eden on the Bay. See my three cinnamon-sugar pancakes and butterscotch latte, as well as Husband’s Eggs-purtly done (bread with Marmite, avo spread and poached egg). Yum!

View of clouds over the mountains while out and about that afternoon.

Mum made pork steaks with various veggies for our Sunday lupper.

Monday, 1 April 2019: Bassie’s 12th birthday

Various stages of Bassie’s birthday celebration – snuggling under duvets and on blankets with her brother, and eyeing the cupcake I ate in her honour.

The standard family birthday shot, with the birthday girl trying not to pose under the birthday hat. Happy 12th birthday, Bassie!

That’s all, folks! Click here for my full review of our lunch experience at Belthazar on Bizcommunity and tune in for my next update next week – same time, same place 🙂

*Disclaimer: Our meals and drinks at Belthazar were part of our review package. All else came from our own pockets. All enjoyed equally.

Bertie’s 9th birthday and moving day 2019

Last week we finally moved into our dream home here in Cape Town, along with the doggies and my parents. It’s a process that we started back in June, so we can’t quite believe it’s real!

As you’ll see from the pics below, all are now settled in and happy – especially as the move coincided with Bertie’s 9th birthday…

Friday, 1 March 2019: Moving day, Bertie’s 9th birthday

Bye bye, Bishops Bend! We’ve loved our four years here in the first house we’ve owned, but the time has come for something different. After everything was packed up, we said our final goodbyes last Friday evening.

Hello, Giraffe House! So many things make us happy about our new home, as you’ll see from the pics below and more to come in the next few weeks – two separate houses, one enormous garden for the doggies…

More of the pretty corners of our new home.

There are beautiful blossoms and trees everywhere you look here, and the doglets love doing laps around the garden. It’s so tropical.

Amongst all the unpacking that evening, we even managed to fit in a mini-birthday celebration for Bertie boy.

Moving in celebrations! Some of Bertie’s birthday-party snacks, his new giraffe rope-toy, split shooters to celebrate the big move, as well as a beautiful vase of flowers and thoughtful muffin-and-coffee welcome gift from our new neighbours. We feel loved!

Bertie receiving his ‘Giraffe House’ birthday present – we’ve had it hidden away since starting the house purchase process. He has pulled out most of the stuffing and now watches TV with it. So sweet!

Saturday, 2 March 2019: Celebratory cocktails and tacos at El Barrio

We were drenched in sweat from unpacking boxes on Saturday afternoon as it was such a hot day, so as soon as we had a gap we hit the beach. It was just what our aching feet needed. Husband said the water was less icy than usual so he had quite a long swim in the sea, too.

We also stopped in at El Barrio in Eden on the Bay for a celebration of tacos and cocktails. See our tacos, Husband’s blueberry-filled ‘Mexican hipster’ and my strawberry, lime and mint frozen margarita. Yum!

We all had a braai together that evening. Also see Husband testing out my hammock chair.

Finally, a tree shady enough to swing from my hammock chair in peace!

Sunday, 3 March 2019: Blueberries breakfast

We stopped in at Blueberries in Table View Shopping Centre for a quick breakfast. See my banana-caramel pancake and Husband’s hash-brown plate.

Beautiful star-shaped buds caught in a fine spider’s web in a hidden corner of our new garden.

Monday, 4 March 2019: Rocomama’s waffles

The doggies watching their Granny’s every move while adjusting to the novelty of living together. Such sweeties.

Husband was back at work on Monday but I had one more day to unpack all those boxes, so unpack I did – then went for a treat at Rocomama’s once I was done. See Dad’s waffle sandwich, Mum’s Hey Joe saucy hot dog, and my espresso shake.

My half-portion Cookies n Scream waffle was just what the doctor ordered. 🙂

Tuesday, 5 March 2019: Sunrise in Woodstock

We’ve had quite a few early starts to work this week, arriving at the office before 7am. See the sunrise as I walk towards my office from the MyCiti bus stop in Woodstock.

Wednesday, 6 March 2019: Interviewing CEOs at YPO

I popped into the CTICC on Wednesday, to interview a few of the members and speakers of YPO, the world’s largest gathering of CEOs. Click here if you missed my first overview.

That’s all for now, folks! 🙂 Check in next week for more pics.

My cousin’s wedding in Gansbaai and 35th birthday waffles

Remember I shared last week’s blog post a whole day early? That’s because we were out of town on Friday – as a double-whammy 35th birthday and family destination wedding getaway…

Thursday, 14 February 2019: Valentine’s Day hot dogs and shakes at Rocomama’s 

I’d taken a day’s leave on Valentine’s Day, so that I’d be well into the holiday spirit for our weekend away. See my lovely lunchtime treat at Rocomama’s with my parents – that’s a double BCG hot dog (topped with bacon, cheese and guacamole), as well as a Nutella-banana waffle and various cold drinks.

Friday, 15 February 2019: My 35th birthday – Hermanus waffles and dinner in Gansbaai

Happy birthday to me! Imagine balloons and such. We were both obviously on leave so we slept in until after the weekday alarm usually goes off, then decided on a New Cafe breakfast as we needed an early start for the first leg of our road trip up to Hermanus.

Lunchtime! After a good few hours on the road, we met my parents at Belgian Waffles, Burgers and Beers in Hermanus. See some of the beers sampled, as well as my Speculaas waffle and ginger-white chocolate cappuccino. Happy happy!

Husband and Dad off to dip their toes in the sea at Grotto Bay – it was quite a low tide so they didn’t venture in beyond their ankles.

Benguela Lodge in De Kelders was our home base for the weekend. Lots of blue skies and the sound of water everywhere made for some happy Aquarians (and Leo parents).

A spot of birthday cave exploring? Why not! It was so hot, we were happy to dip our feet in the sea again…

Love how Husband captured Mum capturing this snap – the only ‘birthday hat’ photo we took. 🙂

We decided on birthday dins at the Blue Goose, just up the road in Gansbaai.

Scenes from my birthday dinner at Blue Goose restaurant in De Kelders. See the sunny dining area, bottle of Hermanuspieterfontein red, my chicken dish and the linefish, both with crispy baby potatoes.

Beautiful sunset over Gansbaai on our way back to De Kelders that evening.

Saturday, 16 February 2019: My cousin Shelley’s wedding at Panorama Farm in Franskraal

T’was a cold, drizzly Saturday morning so we decided to pop in at the wedding venue for a quick recce. See the pretty pruned trees, main castle building and various dogs and horses we befriended.

Next stop, we drove up to see where the shark cage-diving happens in Gansbaai. There were so many folk in wet suits! Not us, of course…

By then we needed a treat so stopped at Giuseppe’s Pizza in Gansbaai for cocktails – their special is ‘buy any two beers, pay for both’. Lol! See my toffee-nut shake; Dad’s enormous Long Island Ice Tea, with a thick lemon wedge separating the white spirits from the sugarless Cola; Mum’s bloody Mary; and Husband’s orange Sex on the Beach. All were yum!

Sights we saw at Panorama Farm in Franskraal, at Shelley and Richard’s wedding.

Panorama Farm has a lovely forest ceremony area, which is where we witnessed the vows. See Shelley walking down the aisle with her brother and dad.

Aww. Such a special moment, snapped between my cousin Darryl (brother of the bride) and his son, Dylan.

Introducing Mr and Mrs Lothian! The joy and love was all around us.

Wedding bubbles! See the sweet individual bubble blowers we used at the ceremony, with rose petals, as well as the enormous bubbles we created when it was time for ‘snacks and lawn games’. Also see Dad and Husband doing the same the next morning, at the post-wedding breakfast.

Beautiful platters adorned the wedding reception tables.

Sunflowers were clearly the theme, adding a sunny touch to the tables, with Shelley’s hair featuring daisies.

See the individual cheese, cracker and spread platters that were waiting on the tables, as well as the dessert table, including the cake and cinnamon cookies Shelley baked herself. Yes, those are Groot and Deadpool cake-toppers! 🙂

Teehee, happy faces at our table at the wedding reception at Panorama Farm.

Various family dance floor shots – the newly married couple opening the floor to ‘Love to see you smile’ by Homer and Marge Simpson, posing with the rest of us, and the family on the dance floor.

The sunset from the ‘Love’-lit pond was so beautiful.

Sunday, 17 February 2019: Post-wedding breakfast at Panorama Farm

We missed our doglets very much but made friends with Benguela Lodge’s sweet African bush cat, Oscar.

After a speedy check-out, we started our Sunday with a brief explore of the walkway down to the deck overlooking the sea at De Kelders. It was just beautiful.

Champagne sparkles on the glossy blue sea.

Next stop, our third visit at beautiful Panorama Farm, where we all met up for a quick farewell ‘foodtruck’ brekkie, featuring coffee and bacon-egg rolls. Just the thing after all the dancing of the night before.

We had worked up quite an appetite from our morning walk, so the bacon-and-egg buns and cups of coffee in the sunshine went down a treat.

That’s all, folks. Here’s to a relaxing weekend ahead! 🙂

How we celebrated Husband’s 39th birthday

It was Husband’s birthday on Tuesday, so there were quite a few celebrations over the past few days involving cocktails, pizzas and beach visits…

Friday, 25 January 2019: After-work dinner at Ikura Earth Cafe

Husband fetched me from the bus stop after work last Friday and we had an early dinner together at Ikura Earth Cafe. See my very pink shake, Husband’s glass of red, his salmon handrolls and my crispy honey chicken. Yum!

Saturday, 26 January 2019: Reload breakfast, Hooked lunch, Beach Tavern cocktails

We opted for a quick breakfast at Reload Parklands on Saturday morning, before kicking off our admin chores for the weekend. See Husband’s eggy-bacon breakfast, my scones with jam and cheese, our coffees and the lovely leafy setting.

After much mall admin, we tried Hooked in Tygervalley Mall for lunch on Saturday afternoon. Husband enjoyed his fishy platter for one and the waffle with bananas and hot, fudgey sauce served in a pan was delicious.

We also met my parents at Beach Tavern in Woodbridge Island for Saturday evening cocktails. See the beautiful creamy pina colada shake with pineapple wedge. Dad and me had these, while Mum and Husband had Bloody Marys.

The four of us at Beach Tavern, with our happy faces and cocktails.

The weather was lovely so we stopped at Dolphin Beach for a quick beach visit on our way home. I was befriended by a doggy and there was a wedding ceremony underway. We sat on a dune and watched for a little while.

Sunday, 27 January 2019: Carlucci’s breakfast and beautiful beach weather

We had breakfast at Carlucci’s in Table View on Sunday morning, with a view of Table Mountain and delicious coffees. Also see my large almond croissant and Husband’s salmon eggs benedict.

Beautiful Table Mountain beyond the bowl of Table Bay.

Husband walking through streams of mussel shells to reach his preferred sea-swimming hole.

Husband and sea birds, between various dips in the sea.

I had a ‘Coffee in a cone’ from the cashless Cup & Cake in Eden on the Bay as my Sunday afternoon treat.

Precious clean doglets after their Sunday afternoon shower.

It was a ‘build your own gatsby’ lupper at Mum’s. Yums!

T’was a pretty Sunday sunset, though the sky was hazy.

Tuesday, 29 January 2019: Husband’s 39th birthday dins at Panarotti’s

We met both sets of parents at Panarotti’s in Table Bay Mall for Husband’s birthday dins, after a long day of work. See all the happy faces.

Also see some of our pizzas and pastas – they’re all on special on a Tuesday – as well as my Bar-One and Dad’s Cherry Bomb shake.

The standard ‘birthday hat photo’ with the doglets once we were home that evening.

That’s all for now, folks! We’re sure to celebrate Husband’s birthday even more this weekend, so keep your eyes peeled for my next update. 🙂

Bassie turns 11 over Easter long weekend 2018

Little Bassie is now 11 years old and we had a wonderful time celebrating her special day last weekend, as you’ll see from the pics below…

Thursday, 29 March 2018: First fire of 2018

It was rather chilly last Thursday evening, so we lit our first fire of the year in the fireplace. I warmed my bare feet while the doggies happily huddled nearby – Bassie is on the couch, if you’re trying to spot her.

Friday, 30 March 2018: Cup & Cake breakfast on Good Friday

After a leisurely lie-in we decided on Cup & Cake in Eden on the Bay for breakfast. See my caramel latte to start the day.

The food was so good! I had the French Toast sandwich with banana, sweet fried onions and cream cheese while Husband had a classic eggs benedict.

It was a cold day, overall, as is usual for Good Friday – note the Winter grey sky and green sea. Note that Husband was just exploring along the coastline, he did not take a dip.

We picked up some Good Friday treats, to last throughout the long Easter weekend.

Bassie pretended to not be interested in the chocolate hot-cross buns. See her ‘not looking at the foodies’ face on the second shot.

Saturday, 31 March 2018: Musselling in Bloubergstrand

Surprise! We’d just ordered our food and drinks for breakfast at News Cafe with brother-in-law Spec on Saturday morning (he’d slept over at ours) when Mum and Dad walked in! See our various coffees topped with foam hearts and elephants, early bird breakfast specials and the City Slicker eggs benedict Husband ordered for a change.

Proof we were all there.

Then it was time for musselling with Husband’s family, just down the road at Bloubergstrand. All equipped with permits and a suitably low tide, they were ready to wade in.

This lovely golden retriever doggie came bounding over to sit with me after his dip in the sea. His name was Charlie.

You can just make out the mussellers near the rocks here.

We decided on liquid treats at Saint’s in Eden on the Bay later that afternoon. See Spec’s blueberry mojito, my Insomniac shake and Husband’s ‘Fat Mary’ – a bloody Mary topped with candied bacon. Yum!

Husband finally had his proper dip in the sea that afternoon.

The mussels had since been cleaned and cooked, and were eaten as a starter by the others at the braai at the parents later that afternoon. There was also a ‘rosbif’ (roast beef) braaied on the Weber-spit with taters, and lots of veg.

Of course there were all sorts of Easter goodies for dessert. Also see the doggies sitting sweetly.

Bassie was very interested in all the Easter treats but received her own doggy treats as it was the day before her birthday.

Sunday, 1 April 2018: Easter Sunday and Bassie’s 11th birthday

Bassie got lots of special birthday girl attention on Sunday. See Bertie just under Husband’s arm, not willing to move out of the photo.

Surprise (again!) We had just ordered our food and drinks at Mugg & Bean in Table Bay Mall on Sunday morning when Mum and Dad appeared! We moved to a bigger table to eat together. See dad’s ‘serious cappuccino’ and blueberry flapjacks on top, my banoffee French toast bottom left, Mum’s avo egg toast in the middle and Husband’s M&M Classic.

We stopped in at Eden Cafe for our Sunday afternoon treats. See my passionfruit shake and Husband’s Castle Lite.

Various attempts at getting the birthday girl to look happy in her birthday-hat pic this year (her hat is smaller than the one the rest of us wear, but still a little big for her).

Mmm. We’d brought along a malva pudding-style sticky-toffee baked pudding for Easter dessert.

Monday, 2 April 2018: Family Day doggy beach walks

We breakfasted at Cafe Lacomia in our nearest Builder’s Warehouse on Monday. See Husband’s sloppy joe, my toasted chicken mayo and my cafe mocha.

The weather was finally right for a doggie beach visit late on Monday morning.

Doggies running eagerly towards the sea with Husband.

We really kept things local this past long weekend. For our Monday treat we decided on an early-dins at Doodles…

See Husband’s linefish of the day (angelfish) with veg and baked potato, as well as my melt burger with pepper sauce and Bar-one shake.

The sea was crashing over the rocks with Table Mountain under a light cloudy duvet as we took the scenic route home.

I had a belated Easter treat with a cup of coffee in a reindeer mug that evening. Delicious!

That’s all, folks! Keep your eyes peeled for next week’s update, which will feature a visit from special friend, Gords. Have a happy weekend 🙂

Bertie’s 8th birthday and the Cup & Cake breakfast buffet

Last week, our dear doggie boy Bertie turned 8. So despite us both having full plates of work, we made a plan to include delicious food and quality time with our furry children, too…

Thursday, 1 March 2018: Bertie’s 8th birthday

Aww! When we got home from work, I showed Bertie some of the birthday messages he’d received from friends and family on Facebook. He loved them, as you can see.

Teehee. This was the best option from a number of ‘birthday hat’ poses, I promise.

Friday, 2 March 2018: Coffee meet at Red Sofa Cafe

Did someone say ‘Friday coffee meet at the Red Sofa Cafe’? I was there like a bear, mirrored sunnies and all.

As it was breakfast time, I went for the flapjack stack. Brimming with blueberries, marscapone cheese and honey, it was delicious!

I tried the cheeseburger with sweet potato fries from the Bread Cafe downstairs for Friday lunch, once back in the office.

Saturday, 3 March 2018: Cup & Cake buffet breakfast

Husband was working again on Saturday, so I had a breakfast date my my parents at Cup & Cake at Eden, which has just moved to new premises. See some of the cakes and views here.

Also see my gingerbread latte, the sweet birdie sugar cup and more.

Table shot of all our eats and drinks at Cup & Cake.

We headed to Husband’s parents’ house for dins that eve, once he got home from work. Bassie was very affectionate with her dad.

Bertie ripped open his presents with a little help from his dad, and was delighted to meet his new TV-viewing companion, Seal. Bassie was happy to share his fancy doggy biscuits, too.

Bassie joined me while I had my post-dins coffee outside, just before the sun set. She wasn’t so sure about including Bertie in the photos, LOL.

Bertie snuggled with his seal on the couch that evening.

Teehee, he really loves his birthday seal!

Sunday, 4 March 2018: Breakfast at Village Place Cafe, Black Panther at GrandWest Casino

We all met at the Village Place Cafe for breakfast first thing on Sunday.

My Sunday cappuccino at Village Place Cafe.

Some of the food we ate. See Husband’s poached egg on a stack of sorts, as well as brother-in-law Spec’s more traditional plate of eggs, bacon, toast and tomato, with my banting flapjacks and mum-in-law’s mushroomy toast plate.

Later that morning, Spec met us at GrandWest Casino as we’d booked tickets to watch the latest Marvel movie, Black Panther. All had a fun time, as you can see 😉

Monday, 5 March 2018: Doggy snuggles on the couch

Bassie having a snuggle with her dad on the couch after another tough day at work.

It seems we interrupted an important conversation between the siblings when we snapped this photo of the doggies.

That’s all, folks! The weather looks quite chilly at the moment so perhaps we will give the beach a miss this weekend.

Table Mountain sunsets and how we celebrated my 34th birthday

Yay, last week was my birthday! If you’ve been waiting to find out how we celebrated it since then, rub your hands in glee and get scrolling below!

Thursday, 15 February 2018: Birthday breakfast at All in the Kitchen, dins at Saints

My parents treated me to breakfast at All in the Kitchen on Thursday morning. I love the ‘Chocolate doesn’t ask questions, chocolate understands’ sign!

See me with mum and dad and our lovely food at All in the Kitchen.

A close-up of that lovely food – Mum squeezing lemon for her avo croissant, Dad’s Omega breakfast with poached eggs and avo, with my nutty, fruity granola bowl bottom right. Love those berries!

All in the Kitchen owner Ally sweetly gifted me with a birthday cupcake! It was chocolate ganache-y delicious and even came with a lit candle.

My afternoon looked much like this – napping with the doggies, colouring in, reading and taking coffee breaks with my gorgeous new owlie mug. Birthday bliss!

Once Husband got home from work, we headed to Eden on the Bay in Big Bay for my birthday dinner. We decided on Saint’s where I had the Insomniac shake (the BEST ever, it’s a chocolate-espresso base topped with Kahlua and Amarula and it hardly kept me awake) – also see Husband’s glass of wine and our delicious burgers and sides. Happy birthday to me! 🙂

We stopped off for a photo of one of my favourite things – the lovely sunset over Table Mountain after dins.

We did a few of our standard ‘kiss on the cheek while wearing the birthday hat’ photos that evening. The doggies don’t look impressed.

Friday, 16 February 2018: Day off coffee at The Daily

One doesn’t take off a Thursday from work and then go in to the office on the Friday – no sir, catching up on all the work is Monday’s problem! One of the things I did on Friday was join my parents at The Daily Cafe in Seaside Village for a morning coffee.

See our coffees and laughs and breakfast plates.

Saturday, 17 February 2018: Solitary coffee at Peacocks, early dins at Bossa

Husband had to work on Saturday so we had a quick breakfast together at Mugg n Bean Bayside before he went to the office. See my iced mocha and croissant, with Husband’s decidedly larger farmer’s breakfast.

I stopped in at Peacocks at Bayside Mall for a quick coffee break following a spot of birthday retail therapy. This hazelnut latte was just what I needed!

Work done for the day, we had an early dins at Bossa in Burgundy Estate. See Husband’s Castle draught and ginormous Big Elvis chicken burger (with bacon, avo, hashbrown and melted cheddar) on the waiter’s recommendation, with my Feel Good pizza and Colada shake. All hit the spot!

Another beautiful sunset over Table Mountain, this time on the way home from Bossa.

Sunday, 18 February 2018: Family birthday breakfast at Cassia at Nitida

Sunday morning was time for the full family birthday breakfast. We’d chosen Cassia at Nitida as it’s not too far from all our homes and the breakfasts are delicious and affordable. See various family snaps outside.

Just look at the wonderful eats and drinks! See my cappuccino with the marscapone-bacon-blueberry flapjack stack ordered by Dad and me, as well as the salmon eggs benedict ordered by Husband and Mum-in-Law.

Delicious food = happy faces.

We had sausages and salads for lupper at Mum’s on Sunday evening, with an amazing nutty-bacon-broccoli salad, too. Yum!

Monday, 19 February 2018: Birthday cakes in the office

As I’d last been in the office the day before my birthday, I took in a selection of treats when I returned to my desk on Monday.

That’s all, folks! You can expect an update on the mind-blowing madness and mayhem of covering Design Indaba next time.

Husband’s 38th birthday and waffles on a stick at the Big Bay Summer Market

This past week took an age to get through. Perhaps because we’re finally in February and January’s always the longest month, what with transitioning back into ‘work mode’ after the end-of-year break.

Here’s what we’ve been up to since my last update…

Friday, 26 January 2018: Meltwater webinar presentation

Look at me, looking nervous/excited/relieved with Philippa Dods, Meltwater’s amazing marketing coordinator for India, Middle East & Africa last Friday, after a successful PR webinar presentation. No need for FOMO if you missed it, just click on this link to the recording so you can catch-up!

Saturday, 27 January 2018: Sweet treats at Sweet Loaf, brotherly dins at Catch22

We started our weekend at Wimpy in Bayside as we had a few weekend admin chores to do while there. And surprise, soon after we ordered my parents also ended up there for breakfast! I enjoyed my regular Wimpy coffee and toasted cheese on a stick. Husband had the streaky bacon breakfast with extra cheesegriller (as did Dad), while Mum went for the avo-toast. A good start to the day!

We also did some motorbike-gear pricing at Sable Square and stopped at Sweet Loaf for a quick treat – everything sells for R11, whether you want a cappuccino, can of Cola, mini-cake load or palm-size pie.

Aww! Little Miss Bassie was such a happy girl when we popped in at her grandparents’ house that evening for some tech assistance.

Bertie was also eager to share his affection with his dad. Big licks!

Spec was spending the night with us so after a quick unpack at our house we headed off to Catch22 for dins. See Husband enjoying his glass of red top-left, my gingerbread latte top-right, Spec with his Amstel bottom-left, and Husband and me in front of the tropical paradise painting outside bottom-right. T’was so bright, we needed to wear sunnies.

And the food? Oh boy was it good! See group photo top-left, full table of food bottom-left, that day’s specials in the middle my buccaneer beef burger topped with bacon and cheese top-right and Husband’s baby kingklip with veg bottom-right. Spec went for the linefish with calamari special. All delicious!

Later that evening we walked down the beach to see the kite-surfing competition in action – it was suitably windy!

Sunday, 28 January 2018: Husband’s family birthday lunch at Bossa

The little ones were happy to pose with me on the couch as my coffee was in a doggy-patterned mug so they felt right at home. As they should, as they were at home. Teehee.

For the first time in many years, we all live in the same city so could do a combined birthday lunch for Husband. See the eisbein with roast veg with parents shared top-left, the pizza me and father-in-law ate top-right, dad’s strong flat white bottom-left (and he had a Black Label draught before that, so his placemat was accurate), with a full family shot bottom right.

Once we’d had time to digest lunch, we stopped off at Husband’s favourite sea-swimming hole for his weekly dunk.

We stopped in at Table Bay Mall for a spot of birthday shopping and a treat in the form of Milky Lane ice creams, mmm! Husband’s is plain vanilla with caramel topping and assorted syrups, mine is the berry-meringue whizzer.

Monday, 29 January 2018: Husband’s 38th birthday

Here’s the first batch of ‘kisses with the birthday hat’ photos. The doggies were keen to join in but seemed shy once we started taking the pics.

These are our attempts while sitting on the couch. If i was licking Bertie’s head in the bottom-left pic (I’m not, I’m blowing Husband a kiss but Bertie angled himself in such a way that it looks like Bass is licking my hand, I’m licking Bertie’s head and he’s licking his dad’s chin.) Crying with laughter!

Tuesday, 30 January 2018: Office donuts and owlie mugs

When clients cancel Tuesday meetings and send through apology donuts (from Dunking Donuts, else they’d be ‘doughnuts’), we share. Also, meet my new hipster owl office mug – disinterested deer has bitten the dust.

T’was also the day I did a video interview in the Barclays Rise space in the Woodstock Exchange. I’ll share the link to that interview next week. For now, see the interesting surrounds.

Wednesday, 31 January 2018: Waffles on a stick at the Big Bay Summer Market

It’s been a while since the last ‘I love Big Bay’ food and craft market, usually held at the Big Bay Lifesaving Club at Eden on the Bay on the last Wednesday of every month. It was a very windy day so we didn’t stay very long.

Various shots of me with my waffle on a stick, also see my potato wedges topped with paprika and parmesan top-left. Yum!

Look at the choices! All were fresh and chocolate-y but I went for the ‘Astronaut’, as it was covered in mini-Astros and looked like an edible Christmas tree. Yum.

Thursday, 1 February 2018: #NespressoOnIce pop-up shop at work

The NespressoOnIce truck is conducting a road trip across the country and stopped in at our office on Thursday afternoon. We were thrilled to try a few of the iced coffee options as it was a very hot day.

That’s all, folks! Have a relaxing weekend 🙂

Velvet cakes, mum’s Moyo 63rd and mum-in-law’s 65th at Steenberg Bistro 1982

I think every August blog post I’ve ever published has mentioned that it’s been a very birthday-filled month. Add my Loeries work coverage to the mix and it’s almost impossible to fit in everything we want or need to do. Despite the craziness we did still get to see both our moms for their birthdays in the past few days, as you’ll see below…

Sunday, 13 August 2017: Mum’s birthday lunch at Moyo

My mom usually cooks Sunday lupper for us, so we decided having her NOT cook would be one of her gifts, especially as her birthday fell on a Sunday this year. We went to Moyo for something different, and as we’d let them know it was Mum’s birthday, she was presented with a special dish of ice cream and berry sauce, was sung to, made to wear a hat AND fed the first spoonful.

To eat, we went with the sweet potato soup (me), the flame-grilled chermoula fish (Husband), the Maputo peri-peri chicken (Mum) and the oxtail with dumplings (Dad). We were all licking our fingers afterwards, so delicious!

We tried the ‘Independence’ shooters to end the meal in style. They’re yummy Pina Colada-y concoctions!

We took a photo of our Moyo-painted faces when we got home before the paint started flaking off.

Sunset from my parents’ house later that evening.

Tuesday, 15 August 2017: Velvet Cake Co sneak peek

I was lucky enough to get a sneak peek of some of the Velvet Cake Co’s new treats – my parents came along. Click here for all the words, this is just proof I was there in front of the lovely cake-painted walls.

Aren’t these the most gorgeous cakes? Really special.

Probably the prettiest slice of cake I’ve ever seen.

Little bites of all sorts of niceness. An enormous strawberry, caramel-popcorn-meringue topped cupcake, and red velvet cupcake.

Wednesday, 16 August 2017: Opening of CEM Africa Summit

Scenes from the first day of the CEM Africa Summit – gin stands, a packed panel session, interesting art work in the Century City Conference Centre and proof I was there covering it.

Saturday, 19 August 2017: Mum-in-law’s birthday breakfast at Steenberg’s Bistro 1682

My mum-in-law decided she wanted to host her 65th birthday breakfast at Steenberg’s Bistro 1682 all the way back when we first took her there in November last year, before they had officially moved down here from Johannesburg. The weather played along beautifully on the day.

If you’ve been to Bistro 1682 for breakfast you’ll know the wonder of this surprise – the warm, sweet rolls with toffee sauce to dip in that are served while waiting for your meals to arrive. Drool!

“Happy birthday to you!” Oysters were shucked, pork belly-bacon benedicts devoured, bubbly toasts were made and a special birthday plate of treats was presented to the birthday girl. All in all a lovely birthday experience.

The other side of the table – an almost-well-from-his-cold Husband, a just-starting-to-suffer-the-symptoms dad and a smiling-happily brother-in-law.

Bellies full, we trotted outside for some family photos. First up, Husband with his clan.

Then it was our turn.,, ❤

Now one with everyone, minus my father-in-law as photographer. On taking this pic we realised we had all dressed to a blue/green theme without realising. Stylish!

Husband whisked me away to our nearest Spur with a view of the sea much, much later for a quick Saturday afternoon treat between batches of work. We ended up with a Pina Colada, hazelnut latte and chicken-bacon-avo salad to share.

Sunday, 18 August 2017: Coffee tasting tray at The Daily

We popped in at Seaside Village’s Daily Cafe for a quick breakfast bite before more work rolled in. Here is Husband with his coffee, the new menus and my Nutella-banana pancakes. Always start your day with chocolate, where you can!

Of course I went for the coffee tasting tray when I saw it on the menu. It’s three tiny cups of plain espresso, espresso con panna (with cream) and their famous ‘tin cup’ with condensed milk. A must for coffee lovers like me. I’m trying their hot chocolate tasting tray next!

Apologies for the lack of doggy pics this week, kids – here’s a pic of our little angel Freckles to make up for it.

That’s all, folks! Have a happy, sunny weekend and click here for more of our Velvet Cake Co experience.

Cape Point ostriches, Imhoff camels, Darling Hills tractor rides and Bertie’s 7th birthday

Our dear, sweet boy Bertie is now seven, but that’s not all we celebrated over the last week, as you’ll see from the pics below…

Friday, 24 February 2017: Husband and parents breakfast at All in the Kitchen

Having just come off his seven-day stretch and about to start a week of night shift, Husband was off last Friday. I was not. He met my parents for breakfast at All in the Kitchen, where we had my recent birthday lunch. Just look at the delicious food they ate.

Saturday, 25 February 2017: Noordhoek breakfast, Cape Point afternoon

On Saturday morning we had an adventurous day planned. Once up, we collected my parents then headed out to Noordhoek side. First stop was a tasty breakfast at Coco Bean.

Next stop was Imhoff Farm, where we browsed the various stores and took in the lovely scenery.

I also sat atop the ‘parental supervision’ wagon without any parental supervision as they’d wandered off into the stores already. Teehee.

When Husband went up to greet the camels, one tried to nip at him. Teehee.

Venus Pools in Cape Point was our afternoon pit stop. The weather was just gorgeous! Click here for a reminder our our last visit to Venus Pools.

We were very happy to be beside the seaside with crashing waves and not a single other party to share the view with us.

We took in all the pretty scenery and had a whale of a time.

Success! Dad and Husband conquered this rather tricksy rock climb. Not bad for a 66 and 37 year old, respectively…

We stopped in at the Cape Point Ostrich Farm on our way home. Lovely place (though they were out of stock on biltong, despite advertising it outside)…

Dixies was our last stop on the trip. We thoroughly enjoyed our various draughts, shakes and pizzas.

We tried to drum up some interest in the fish tank that evening with Bassie but alas, no luck. She ignored it and looks the other way when we bring her near.

Sunday, 26 February 2017: Groote Post Country Festival

We were off to Darling Hills for the first time ever on Sunday, to review the Groote Post country market. It’s held on the last Sunday of every month and filled with delicious goodies to eat, like these…

We also sat on hay bales, listened to music and went on a tractor ride (see Husband top right)…

Proof we were both on the tractor (you can just see the hay bale seating). As it was an open-bed tractor we had to hold on tight!

Did you know Sunday was International Milktart Day? We did when we got to Mum’s for lupper and were met with this deliciousness. So yum, even the doggies had some.

Monday, 27 February 2017: Interview at the Mount Nelson Hotel

I had a very important interview scheduled at the Mount Nelson for 3pm on Monday afternoon. Of course I went for their strawberry shake as we conducted the interview on the verandah outside. Click here if you missed the resulting article on Biz!

Tuesday, 28 February 2017: Woodstock sunrise

Early morning sunrise on my way to work in Woodstock on Tuesday. If Husband’s working night shift I get up at 05:30am and head on in to the office so that I can leave earlier and catch a few minutes of him before he leaves the house.

Wednesday, 1 March 2017: Bertie celebrates his seventh birthday

Look at this gorgeous birthday boy! Bertie Lingalana Andrews is now seven, and such a little treasure. His birthday is also one of the few times Bassie will purposely sit beside him as she hopes some of the attention will rub off on her. Bless.

That’s all, folks! I also attended Design Indaba this week but will hold over my favourite snaps for next week’s update. We finally got some much-needed rain overnight, let’s hope it’s the start of the season…

Click here for my official review of the Groote Post Country Market on Bizcommunity.

*Disclaimer: Obviously our eats at the Groote Post Country Market were part of our review package. All else came from our own pockets. All enjoyed equally.